Traveling Soldier
by oreocookiepup101
Summary: Based on the Dixie Chic's song: Travelin' Soldier. "Mommy, why don't I have a Daddy?" she asked. The one question that I had always dreaded. The one night that changed a young girl's life forever. Set during the Vietnam War  1974 .
1. Chapter 1

_Two days past eighteen_

_He was waiting for the bus in his army green_

_Sat down in a booth in a cafe there_

_Gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair_

_He's a little shy so she gives him a smile_

_And he said would you mind sittin' down for a while_

_And talking to me,_

_I'm feeling a little low_

_She said I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go_

_So they went down and they sat on the pier_

_He said I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care_

_I got no one to send a letter to_

_Would you mind if I sent one back here to you_

_I cried_

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy_

_Too young for him they told her_

_Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier_

_Our love will never end_

_Waitin' for the soldier to come back again_

_Never more to be alone when the letter said_

_A soldier's coming home_

_So the letters came from an army camp_

_In California then Vietnam_

_And he told her of his heart_

_It might be love and all of the things he was so scared of_

_He said when it's getting kinda rough over here_

_I think of that day sittin' down at the pier_

_And I close my eyes and see your pretty smile_

_Don't worry but I won't be able to write for awhile_

_I cried_

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy_

_Too young for him they told her_

_Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier_

_Our love will never end_

_Waitin' for the soldier to come back again_

_Never more to be alone when the letter said_

_A soldier's coming home_

_One Friday night at a football game_

_The Lord's Prayer said and the Anthem sang_

_A man said folks would you bow your heads_

_For a list of local Vietnam dead_

_Crying all alone under the stands_

_Was a piccolo player in the marching band_

_And one name read but nobody really cared_

_But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair_

_I cried_

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy_

_Too young for him they told her_

_Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier_

_Our love will never end_

_Waitin' for the soldier to come back again_

_Never more to be alone when the letter said_

_A soldier's coming home_

**1985:**

It was a cool fall day and I drew my coat tightly about me as I rocked on the front porch waiting for my daughter to come home. Grace came skipping up the walk, her brown curls bouncing with each hop. She skidded to a stop in front of me.

"Mommy?" she asked, her innocent 11 year-old eyes staring up at me. "Why don't I have a Daddy?"

My eyes filled with tears, this was the conversation that I had wanted to avoid for so long. Where was I to begin? Grace did have a father, but our relationship was unorthodox at best. Sighing, I motioned for her to sit beside me on the swing.

"It all began in 1974," I told her. "I was waitressing at a diner near the bus stop in town after school. I was sixteen years old…"

**November, 1974:**

"Rose, I just seated someone in your section," my dearest friend Alice whispered, bustling around the counter. Hal's Diner was a local establishment, serving decent food in a short amount of time. It was located directly across the street from the bus station and most customers rushed in and out to meet their ride.

"Thanks, Alice!" I shouted, twirling around to take the new man's order.

"My name's Rosalie. What can I get for you today?" I said, flipping my long blonde ponytail over my shoulder and whipping out my pad from the apron that covered my skirt.

"I'll have a burger, please," the man said.

I looked up and met the sparkling brown eyes of a young man. He was dressed in Army Green and he looked rather lonely. I smiled at him, knowing the horrors that he would soon experience.

His eyes lit up with my smile and my heart skipped a beat.

He asked, "Would you mind sittin' down for a while and talking to me, I'm feeling a little low."

I glanced at the packed restaurant and back at the soldier. I pitied him and wanted to sit with him, get to know him. But I also knew that my boss would fire me. My mother and I needed the money, even at sixteen I had to pitch in.

I said, "I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go. There's a pier down the street, meet me there."

He nodded and smiled at me again. For the next hour, I bustled around the restaurant. Normally, I fell into a working rhythm, oblivious to everything except the work at hand. But today I could feel his eyes on me wherever I went.

When the clock hit 7 I knew I was free at last. The soldier had paid his check and disappeared ten minutes before. I rushed to the back room and began to remove the apron and hair bow that were required for all waitresses to wear. I was applying red lipstick in the mirror when Alice walked in.

"Where are you going that you need to get all dolled up?" she asked, as I pulled on my skirt and adjusted my sweater.

"Nowhere really," I replied, knowing that she would never let me leave if she heard I was going on a sort-of date.

I pulled on the worn wool coat that my mother had passed on to me and practically ran from Alice and the diner to the pier.

I was breathless when I finally got there, but the soldier was there…which was a relief.

As my panting subsided, I took in his appearance. He was gargantuan, broad shouldered and tall, but his face was full of humor and kindness. His brown curls fell over his forehead and his brown eyes twinkled with good nature.

"I don't know your name," I prompted, settling down beside him and dangling my legs over the edge of the pier.

"I'm Emmett McCarty," he told me, smiling at me again. "And you're Rosalie.."

"Hale," I said, shivering slightly as a strong wind blew over us. Emmett put his arm around me, pulling me to his side. "How old are you, Emmett?"

"I just turned 18," he said. "You?"

"I'm 16," I replied.

We were both silent for a long time, watching the water beat harshly against the dock.

"I love this pier," I said at last, looking out at the churning water. "When I was little my dad would take me out here. We never had much, but he was always able to provide for us. He would take me here to teach me to swim. Mom was always afraid that the water was too rough for me, but he told her it's the challenges that teach us most. Every summer we would come out here when he came home from work." My voice caught, I never spoke of my father anymore. Tears fell down my cheeks.

"What happened to your father?" Emmett asked me, noting the tears that were now flowing freely.

Angrily, I wiped them away with my hand. "He worked in the munitions factory, he was promoted to floor manager three years ago and that made life more comfortable. One of the machines broke last year, and he knew how to fix it. They never told me what happened after that. Mom was at the hospital for a week before he died. No one let me see him, he didn't want me to see him like that."

Emmett pulled me closer to him. I cried for a few minutes before I was able to pull myself together. We spoke for a while about him, his family had died when he was young and he had been raised by a distant aunt who passed away a few months ago. He had been drafted into the army and was being sent to training camp in California. Glancing down at my watch, I gasped at the time. It was passed 8.

"Emmett, I'm really sorry but I need to get home. My mom is going to be so worried if I don't come home. When do you leave?"

"In 2 hours," he said. "Can I walk you home?"

"Sure!" I replied, a little too eagerly. He held my hand as we walked through the quiet streets.

"Rosalie?" he asked nervously, as we neared my street. "I know you probably have a boyfriend, a girl as pretty as you is obviously seeing someone else. But do you think that I could write to you? I know we don't know each other very well, but I have no one else who I can write to…"

"Emmett, I would love to write to you."

We reached my slightly dilapidated house. Its paint was chipped and the porch sagged, but it was home for me. The porch light was on and I could see my mother nervously checking the clock in the kitchen.

Emmett leaned in to kiss my cheek, just as I turned to say something. His lips met mine and what had begun as an innocent kiss deepened quickly. Pulling apart, I was slightly dazed, but I also wanted to kiss him more.

"Second window on the left," I said, not stopping to think of the consequences of my actions. "I'll meet you in there in 5 minutes."

Nodding, he kissed me lightly on the lips before walking to the side of the house. As I walked up the path to my house, I wondered what this meant for us.


	2. Chapter 2

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_Dear Emmett,_

_ It's been nearly two weeks since I last saw you. I can't believe that so much time has passed! Are you still in California? I hope that this war ends before you have to go anywhere near the fighting. I wish that I could see you again. I told Alice about us. She has been my best friend for as long as I can remember and I thought that she would understand. But she didn't. She said that you're too old for me, that you will change your mind when you come home. Will you Emmett? I think that it will break my heart forever if you jilted me. _

_ I don't know what it is that I feel for you, but I hope that you feel the same way. This may be forward, but I have never been one to sit idly by waiting for life to happen. Emmett, do you perhaps have feelings for me? I think I feel something for you. Especially after that night in my room…_

_ I just realized how little I know about you! Please tell me about your childhood, where you grew up, who you were friends with. I want to know everything!_

_Yours truly,_

_~Rosalie Hale_

_Dear Rose,_

_ I am in California, but we ship out to Vietnam in less than a week. By the time you get this I will probably be somewhere in that jungle. I too wish that I could see you again. Your friend Alice is a smart girl, I am older than you but I feel that we will not be affected by an age difference. Rose, I would never leave you. I too feel something; I think that I might love you._

_ I have something important to ask you. Please forgive me for not doing this in person, but I fear that it cannot wait. I have not known you very long but it feels as if I know all that I need to. You are a beautiful girl, on the inside and out. I could not imagine finding anyone in this world who compares to you. Would you marry me, Rosalie? When I come home from this war, I want to have someone waiting for me. No, I want to have _you_ waiting for me. Enclosed in this letter is a ring. It's not much, a plain silver band but I'm afraid that's all I could get with my salary. _

_ You don't have to wear it right away, 16 is too young to be engaged. Alice and I agree about that. I just want to have a family to come home to, at the end of this. So, I guess what I'm trying to ask you if you would agree to be my friend, my love, my home, my family?_

_I'll write again as soon as I can._

_Love,_

_Emmett_

_Dearest Emmett,_

_ Yes. Yes. Yes. I can barely see the paper right now, I'm crying so hard. They're not sad tears, they're happy ones. I can't remember being this happy in my life. Unfortunately, I seem to be coming down with something because I have not been feeling well all week. _

_ Emmett, I want to wear you're ring, I really do. I want everyone to know that we love one another and that I am yours forever. But unfortunately, I fear their reactions to this because I am so young. Instead, I will wear your ring on a ribbon around my neck. This way, we'll both know its there, but the gossips in this town won't._

_ I graduate school in two years, not even. So perhaps when you get home we can announce our engagement to my mother. I truly do not know how she will react to such news. Mom married Dad fresh out of high school and though they loved each other dearly, I fear that she wishes she had done more than just get married. I don't think I could ever feel that way, especially not if I had you. But of course Mom doesn't know that. She sees me as a way to relive her life without the mistakes. But I want to make my own choices, my own mistakes. And you Emmett, are a choice, not ever a mistake._

_ I pray that this letter finds you safe, wherever you are._

_All My Love,_

_Rosalie_

_Dear Rosie,_

_ Please don't ever feel guilty about any of this. If anyone should feel awful it should be me. You're so young, you should be living the life of a high school girl not a grown woman. _

_ But I see our lives ahead of us, together. I'll get a job when I get home, Rosie. Maybe I'll work on the base and train soldiers like me or maybe I'll find a job at a law firm, put myself through law school and become a lawyer like I've always wanted. I'll buy you a pretty house, a big one with whitewashed walls, green shutters and a big porch for us to sit on and watch our kids play. We'll have tons of kids, Rose. I know how much you love them and then we'll have even more grandchildren. We'll grow old together in that house, you and me forever. I promise you, we'll have that house and I'll give you that family._

_ I wish that I could seem braver to you, but you are the only person who I can speak to about these things. We're all scared here, Rose. Every minute of every day. But we don't tell each other such things. You know what I do when I get really scared or when it's getting kind of rough over here? __I think of that day sitting down at the pier._

_And I close my eyes and see your pretty smile. _

_ Don't be scared, Rose, but I'm not going to be able to write for a while. I can't tell you why, in case this letter falls into the wrong hands, but I can promise you that I'll write as soon as I can._

_Forever Yours,_

_Emmett_

I smiled down at the letter from Emmett and wiped furiously at my eyes with my hands. What was wrong with me? Letters reducing me to tears. Feeling nauseous at the smell of our old house. Throwing up every morning. Never having any energy, but eating all day long. Oh, G-d.

It wasn't as if the thought had never occurred to me, but it seemed preposterous. It was just once. I had never done it before. Emmett promised me that everything would be fine. But what if he lied. What if it wasn't "fine"? What if it was everything but "fine"? What if I was pregnant?

I ran into the kitchen and hastily dialed Alice's number on the telephone.

"You need to come over now. I think I'm in trouble. And I need your help," I said, nearly hysterical into the phone.

"Rose? Are you okay?" Alice asked, her voice frantic.

"I'm not hurt. B-but Alice, I think I'm really not okay."

"I'll be there in less than five minutes."

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	3. Chapter 3

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True to her word, Alice was at my door in exactly four minutes. She let herself in, running hastily up to my room where I was now curled up on the bed.

Panting, she sat down next to me.

"What's wrong, Rose?" she asked.

I looked up, my eyes were ringed with red and swollen from my tears.

"I-I…I think I'm p-pregnant," I whispered, looking at Alice and hoping that she wouldn't kill me.

"What? Rose, how did this happen?" Alice asked, looking scandalized and terrified for me.

"Do you remember the soldier who I write to, Emmett?" I asked her. When she nodded her head I continued. "Well it was the night he left. He…he said that it was fine, that nothing could happen because it was my first time."

"Obviously he was wrong," Alice muttered.

"This is as much my fault as it is his," I replied, glaring at her.

"Alright, alright. I get the point, Rose. But what are you going to do? You're not married and he's thousands of miles away from here, so you can't get married."

"I'm going to keep it, Alice," I replied. "I haven't told anyone else this, but he proposed a month or so ago in a letter. And I accepted."

"Okay, um…wow," Alice said, lost for words for the first time since I met her. "Are you going to write him?"

"I wanted your help with that," I admitted.

Together, Alice and I drafted an adequate letter to send to Emmett. I sent it after she took me to the doctor to confirm my suspicions.

_Dear Emmett,_

_ I'm really sorry to tell this to you in a letter, but it's something that you need to know. Remember the night before you left and what we did? Well…I'm pregnant._

_ I just went to the doctor and he confirmed it. The baby is due in August. I'm going to wear your ring on my finger now, since we're obviously going to be married the moment you arrive home. I know this is really short, but I want to get this in the post as soon as possible. I pray for you every day. Take care of yourself, because you're going to be a father._

_Be Safe,_

_Rosalie_

I waited for a response. I waited for over two months. By that time it looked as if I had gained weight, nothing more. Alice convinced me to remain in all the activities that I had once loved. Especially marching band. I played piccolo, though I was not the most gifted, I truly loved it. And though my mother was furious with me, she did not feel as if denying me the rest of my childhood would be wise. I now wore the engagement ring proudly on my finger. People gossiped, but I didn't care. Alice, mom and I were the only people besides Emmett who knew the truth. I was beginning to worry that Emmett was not ever going to answer my letter.

One cold December night, I huddled under the bleachers begging my stomach not to turn on me. My piccolo lay forgotten in the cold snow by my said. Every December our school hosted a snow football game. It was supposedly fun for all, but at this moment it was mostly torture.

A sergeant from the base spoke into a microphone in the announcer's booth.

"Thank you all here for coming today. I would like to take this moment to send out a prayer for all of our soldiers in the jungle," his voice echoed all around the field.

I closed my eyes, and whispered my own prayer as he led everyone in the Lord's Prayer.

"Now I would like to take this moment to honor the local Vietnam dead. Please rise if I speak the name of your loved one."

One by one he spoke the names of local boys. Some I knew, some I didn't. But after every name, I could hear people clambering to their feet. I held my breath, thankful each time that he didn't say the name I most dreaded.

But then, my deepest fear was confirmed.

"Emmett McCarty," he boomed.

My knees gave out and I sank into the snow. Cold tears streamed down my cheeks but I was numb to their chill. I didn't hear a single person rise for my Emmett.

My Emmett was dead, taken from me in some silly jungle on the other side of the world. I cried harder. He probably never knew about this child that I was going to have. He probably never got the letter.

The only man who I could ever love was taken from me in that moment. And I was completely alone.

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	4. Chapter 4

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"So wait," Grace muttered, looking at me seriously. "I do have a Daddy, a wonderful Daddy. But he was killed in Vietnam?"

"Yes, sweetheart," I replied, touching her soft hair. "He would have loved you so much."

"But how did you do this?" she asked, pointing back at the whitewashed colonial with green shutters that we called home.

"I always loved making jewelry. When I graduated from high school, back when we lived with Grandma, I took a few classes at a local college and opened my own store. The first thing I did when I had enough money was to find the house that Emmett, your Daddy, wanted us to have. You see, Grace, Daddy and I have everything that we ever wanted. We have a beautiful house all our own and a wonderful family."

"Where is Daddy now?" Grace asked me.

"Would you like to see him?" I asked her.

She nodded. Hand in hand, we walked down the sidewalk through town until we came to the gates that I knew so well. I led her through them and down the path. A tree shaded a granite stone. Engraved on it were the words:

Emmett McCarty

Beloved father and fiancée

Died serving his country

December 19, 1974

Grace knelt down in front of it, studying the flowers that I had planted all around it, roses like the ones I dreamed of carrying at our wedding. She tentatively reached out a hand and traced the letters of the epithet.

"Hi, Daddy," she whispered. "My name is Grace Anne Hale."

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